Daily Hindu Rituals

If a person follows the daily rituals as prescribed by our scriptures, the person receives divine blessing. Garuda Puran has laid down certain rules that a person needs to abide by in daily activities.

A person should wake up before sunrise and think of God first. Then he should think about earning wealth in an honest way. As the sun rises, a person should pray to almighty God who always exists in our heart.

Then he should get fresh and take bath with pure water. Taking bath in the morning is beneficial. Taking bath in the morning washes away all the harmful thoughts and refreshes one’s mind to carry out duties for the day with renewed interest. In certain case a person can also take bath without washing the head. But taking bath is essential. If a person is not feeling well he can clean his body with a wet cloth. This is known as kayik snaan in our scriptures.

Six types of bath: There are six types of bath according to Hindu rituals- brahma, Agneya, Vayavya, Divya, Varun and Yogic Snaan.

To take bath by strewing water through kusha vana and chanting mantra is called brahma snaan.

To clean the body from head to toe by ashes is called agneya snaan.

To clean the body through godhuli is called vayavya snaan. This type of snaan is called the best by Garuda Puran.

To take bath in rain water and sunlight at the same time is called divya snaan. To witness such an incident where we get sunlight and rain at the same time is very rare. Taking bath at such a time with rainwater is called divya snaan meaning divine snaan by our scriptures.

To take bath with water is called varun snaan.

To purify one’s body through yoga is called yogic snaan. Yogic snaan is also called aatmatirtha.

Other daily rituals:

Before taking bath, a person should take wood from a useful tree like Bilva, Neem etc. and brush his teeth. The person is supposed to face towards north or east while taking bath. After washing his mouth he should pray his forefathers and god. After taking bath, the person should offer water (Jalanjalee) to the Sun. Then the person should sit in a mat made of kushavan and do pranayam for good health.

Our scripture has instructed us to chant the Gayatri mantra three times a day, morning, noon and evening. Chanting of the Gayatri mantra purifies one’s soul. A person should chant Gayatri mantra one thousand time, on hundred times or ten times facing towards east. Chanting ten thousand times is the best one hundred times is average and ten times is regarded as minimal.

Garuda purana asks us to pray to the rising sun. Sun is the source of energy, it’s the cause of life in this earth and we pay our obedience to the ultimate source of energy.

The sloka means, “ Oh the paradigm of calmness Sun god, you are the source of creation, existence and destruction. You are the source of knowledge. I devote myself to you. You are the param brahma, you are the light, you are the nectar, you are three worlds, you are the Omkar, you are indestructible, I salute you.”

After saluting the Sun, a person should come home and offer ahuti to Agni by chanting mantra. A ritual performed without chanting the mantra does not produce any result. Then a person should worship god with flowers, sandal, incensed sticks etc.

Thereafter, the guru should be saluted. Then the person should engage himself in Vedic studies.

Earning wealth is also an important part of a person’s life. The holy scriptures of Hinduism prescribes it as a part and parcel of daily rituals. A person should try to earn wealth for him and his dependents through an ethical way. After that at noon, a person should collect pure clay, flower, akshat, til, kush and cow dunk. Then he should go to a river, lake or tank and take bath.
After changing cloth, a person should worship brahma, shiva, sun, and vishunu with flower, leaf and water. With calmness and devotion, other gods should also be worshipped. After that the gods and goddesses should be offered pushpanjalee separately.

Food should be offered to the needy people. The scriptures also advice us to offer food to the birds and animals. In the memory of the forefathers, a person who is engaged in welfare activities should be fed daily. The daily rituals performed for the forefathers are called Pitriyagna. The scriptures also advice us to serve the guests as a part of daily rituals. All possible care should be taken n to serve the guests. To offer bhiksha is also an important part of daily rituals. The needy people should be offered alms as per one’s capability.

A person should take meal only after performing five types of yagnas.
Along with the five yagnas, the study of Veda and prayed to god are integral part of daily rituals that are necessary for a peaceful life. It helps a person to get rid of the sins and acquire precious knowledge.

Dr. Puneet Chawla is a Life Guru, guiding and mentoring the followers to solve their life problems and make a easy living. He corrects the reasons of troublesome life by way of Vastu, Mantra and Tantra Mandalas. Being an intuitive personality he senses the negative energies, the reasons of problems and rarely predicts the life decisions too. He is a Shiv and Shakti Sadhak and guides people through Shivpath.